Gospel Principles Lesson 33: Missionary Work

Excerpt from "Be a Missionary All Your Life" by Elder Quentin L. Cook:

Fourth, be a good example and take every opportunity to share the gospel. Paul counseled Timothy, “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). It is not enough to preach the gospel. One must also live the gospel. Very often people are receptive to being taught because they have had a positive experience with a Church member.

I know a graduate of Brigham Young University who is a great example, loves people, loves the Lord, and has a great desire to be everyone’s friend and share the gospel. He points out that there is a mirror quality to conversation. If we talk about the weather, people respond by talking about the weather. If we talk about sports, they respond by talking about sports. This friend says he asks people he meets about their school and listens intently. After they respond by asking him about his school, he tells them about BYU and then shares his testimony of the gospel. Then, in a positive way, he offers to let them learn more from the missionaries. He has been very successful in sharing the gospel. He has also remained on excellent terms with his friends who do not respond to his invitation, because he genuinely loves them and is interested in them.

Elder Clayton M. Christensen, who is a professor at Harvard Business School and an Area Seventy, indicated: “I have learned to use terms that associate me with Mormonism in my conversations—comments about my mission to Korea, my children’s missions, my assignments in the Church, my having attended Brigham Young University, and so on. These comments open the door for a conversation about the Church. Most who notice that I have opened this door choose not to walk through it. A few do, however, usually saying, ‘So you’re a Mormon?’ I then ask if they’d like to learn more about us.”